TM

Rules of Play
 Overview
In Love Letter, 2–6 suitors compete to have
their missives delivered to the kingdom’s
princess, who seeks an ideal partner and
confidant for when she assumes the throne.

Contents
9–Princes
s (x1): Out
Prince
play/dis of the rou
card. nd if you
8–Countes
s (x1): Mu
Princess King or
Prince. st play if you hav
e
7–Kin g
(x1): Trad
e hands.
6–Chancel
lor (x2): Dra
5–Prince w & return 2
(x2): Dis cards.
card a han
4–Han dma d & redr
id
until you (x2): Immune
aw.
r next turn to othe
. r cards
3–Baron
(x2): Com
pare han
2–Priest ds.
(x2): Loo
k at a han
1–Guard d.
(x6): Gue
ding ss a han
player (inclu 0–Spy (x2) d.
Choose any player discards :
plays/di Gain favor if no
That
yourself ). and redra
ws. scards a
Spy. one else
their hand If you play or discard this card,
you are out of the round.

21 Character Cards 6 Reference Cards

2
13 Favor Tokens 1 Cloth bag
 Setup
1. Give each player a reference card and
return any remaining reference cards to
the box.
Reference cards list the values, effects, and
quantity of each character card type.
2. Shuffle the 21 character cards to create the
deck. Place the deck facedown on the table
within easy reach of all players.
3. Take the top card of the deck and set it
aside facedown without looking at it. If you
are playing a two-player game, take three
more cards and set those aside faceup.
4. Deal each player one card from the deck as
their starting hand.
5. The player who most recently hand-wrote a
letter takes the first turn.

3
 Playing the Game
Love Letter is played over several game rounds
in which you enlist the allies, friends, and
family of the Princess to carry a letter of intent
to her.
The card in your hand represents the person
who currently carries your letter, but this
can change during the round as you draw
and play cards.
To win a round, you must either have the
highest-value card at the end of the round or be
the only player left in the round.

PlayerTurn
Take turns in clockwise order. On your turn,
draw one card from the deck. Then, choose and
play one of your two cards, resolving its effect.
The played card stays in your play area
faceup, and you keep the other card in
4 your hand.
Out of theRound
Some card effects knock you out of the current
round; a competing suitor has ensured that
your letter cannot be delivered.
When this happens, discard your hand faceup
in front of you (without resolving card effects).
Until the next round, you cannot be chosen
for card effects, and your turn is skipped. Flip
over your reference card to the broken seal side
as a reminder.

Played and Discarded Cards

It is important that everyone know which cards
have already been played and which cards are
left in the deck, so any played or discarded
cards must always be visible to everyone.

5
End of aRound
The round ends in one of two ways: when the
deck runs out or when only one player is left
in the round.

DeckRuns Out
After any turn, if the deck is empty, all players
still in the round reveal and compare the cards
in their hands.
If you have the highest-value card,
you win the round and gain one
favor token; your letter was
successfully delivered to the Princess.
If there is a tie, all tied players win the round
and each gains one token.

One Player Left

If you are the only player still in the round (all
other players are out of the round due to
card effects), the round immediately
6 ends; you win and gain one favor token.
 Starting theNextRound
To start a new round, repeat steps 2–4 of setup
(shuffle the character cards, set some aside, and
deal each player one card). The player who
won the previous round takes the first turn.
If there was a tie in the previous round,
randomly decide among the tied players who
takes the first turn.

Winning the Game

The game ends when one player has enough
favor tokens to win (based on the number of
players—see table below). Multiple players can
simultaneously win the game.

2 3 4 5 6
6 5 4 3 3
7
 Card Effects
Each card features a key person in the
Princess’s life. A set of dots on the left
side of each card shows how many of
that card are in the deck (with yellow
indicating what to remove for the classic
version, see page 14).
The text on each card is a brief summary of the
card’s effect. The following section, pages 8–13,

P rincess
provides the complete rules for each character.

9. Princess
If you either play or discard the
Princess for any reason, you are no
immediately out of the round.

8
 8. Countess
The Countess has no effect when
played or discarded.
You must play the Countess as
the card for your turn if either the
King or a Prince is the other card in your hand.
You can still choose to play the Countess as the
card for your turn even if you do not have the
King or a Prince.
When you play the Countess, do not reveal
your other card; the other players will not know
if or
King you were
Prince is inforced
your to play it or chose to play it.
, youThe
mustCountess’s
play this card.effect does not apply when you

King
draw cards for other effects (Chancellor).

7. King
Choose another player and
trade hands with that player.

9
 Chancellor
6. Chancellor
Draw two cards from the deck
into your hand. Choose and keep
one of the three cards now in your
hand, and place the other two
facedown on the bottom of the deck in any
order.
If there is only one card in the deck, draw it and
return one card. If there are no cards left, this

P rince
card is played with no effect.

5. Prince
ards. Keep 1 card and
other 2 on the bottom Choose any player (including
deck in any order. yourself). That player discards
their hand (without resolving its
effect) and draws a new hand.
If the deck is empty, the chosen player draws
the facedown set-aside card.
If a player chooses you for the Prince
effect, and you are forced to discard the
10 Princess, you are out of the round.
 4. Handmaid
Until the start of your next turn,
other players cannot choose you
for their card effects.
In the rare case that all other players still in
the round are “protected” by a Handmaid when
you play a card, do the following:
❧❧ If that card requires you to choose another
player (Guard, Priest, Baron, King), your
card is played with no effect.
❧❧ If that card requires you to choose any
next turn, other
nnot chooseplayer
you (Prince), then you must choose
yourself for the effect.
ir card effects.

11
 Baron
3. Baron
Choose another player. You and
that player secretly compare your
hands. Whoever has the lower-
value card is out of the round.
If there is a tie, neither player is out of the
round. P riest
2. Priest
Choose another player and secretly
look at their hand (without
and secretly comparerevealing
hands it to anyone else).
Guard
other player. Whoever has
er value is out of the round.
1. Guard
Choose another player and name a
character other than Guard. If the
chosen player has that card in their
hand, they are out of the round.

12
and look at another player’s hand.
 0. Spy
A Spy has no effect when played or
discarded.
At the end of the round, if you are
the only player still in the round who played
or discarded a Spy, you gain one favor token.
This does not count as winning the round; the
winner (even if it is you) still gains their token.
Even if you play and/or discard two Spies, you
still gain only one token.
d of the round, if you are the

Rule Mistakes
r in the round who played or
d a Spy, gain 1 favor token.

Accidental or not, there are many ways in

which a player could make a rule mistake, such
as dishonesty when chosen for a Guard effect or
by not playing the Countess when required.
Players should make sure they understand
game rules and always double-check
their cards; mistakes like these can
strongly disrupt the play experience.
13
Classic Version
.
Included in this edition of Love Letter are the
rules to play the classic version of the game,
though it supports only 2–4 players.
To play the classic version, before setup, return
these cards to the bag:
❧❧ 1 Guard
❧❧ 2 Chancellors
❧❧ 2 Spies
All other rules for the game are unchanged.

14
 Credits
Game Design: Seiji Kanai
Game Development: Justin Kemppainen & Alexandar Ortloff
Producer: Justin Kemppainen
Editing: Steven Kimball
Graphic Design: Samuel R. Shimota
Character Art: Andrew Bosley
Art Direction: Samuel R. Shimota
Publisher: Steven Kimball
Playtesters: Beth Erikson, Thomas Gallecier, Dan Gerlach,
John Hannasch, Monica Helland, Bree Lindsoe, Jasmine Radue,
Danielle Robb, Michael Sanfilippo, Sarah Swindle

®
1995 County Rd B2 West
Roseville, MN 55113 USA
651-639-1905
info@ZManGames.com

© 2019 Z-Man Games. Z-Man Games is an ® of

Z-Man Games. Love Letter and the Z-Man logo are
TMs of Z-Man Games. Fantasy Flight Supply is a TM
of Fantasy Flight Games. Actual components may
vary from those shown. .

15
 QuickReference
Setup & Start ofRound
Shuffle the 21 cards. Set one aside facedown
(and three more faceup if playing with two
players).
Deal one card to each player. The player who
last hand-wrote a letter (or won the previous
round) takes the first turn.

Taking ATurn
Draw one card. Play one of your two cards,
resolving its effect.

End ofRound
The round ends in one of two ways, and the
winner gains one favor token:
❧❧ If the deck is empty, the highest card wins.
❧❧ If all players but one are out of the round,
the player still in the round wins.